Calm Before the Storm
by Mini Reyes
Summary: An alternate ME2 ending, Liara is part of the crew. The Commander takes a moment to center and calm herself before gearing up for war with the collectors, Liara however is not as calm and collected as Shepard once again throws herself into danger for the sake of others. In fact, Liara is quite mad at the Commander. WIP.
1. Calm

This was inspired by Pentatonix and Lindsey Stirling, specifically by listening to the intro of the PTX and Lindsey Stirling mix of Radioactive and finding it really relaxing.

This is set in Mass Effect 2 but Liara is part of the crew and I devised my own non canon ending, but there are spoilers.

* * *

"Shepard?" Liara called as she entered into the Captain's Cabin.

The Commander was lying on her back in the middle of her wide bed, eyes closed, breathing so slowly that the Asari thought the woman must be asleep.

_How can she be asleep when she is about to go start a war to save the galaxy? _

Liara moved to the Commander's side and gently touched her arm, "Shepard?" It was as she approached that she noticed the thin wires leading from her hand up to a band covering her head and ears, and became rather alarmed. The Commander was so still it reminded her of being in stasis.

Shepard opened her eyes, tugging strange headwear down to rest around her neck, sitting up on her elbow, "Yes Liara?"

Liara, distracted from her original reason for entering the cabin is still perplexed by the wires, "What is that?"

Shepard looked down at her hand, where the asari pointed, "Oh, it's old earth technology that plays music, you listen to it through headphones," She took the headphones off and held them out to Liara for her to study.

"And you put that on your ear? Isn't it dangerous?"

"Dangerous? Of course not it's just sound waves- well, only if you listen to music at an obscene level for an extended period of time, then you might have hearing damage."

"And you listen to music through it?"

"That's what I said isn't it?"

"Why not just use your omni tool or your private terminal?"

"I like the immersive experience of headphones, it's like the sound is filling your head and spreading out through your body. It's unique, nothing that an omni tool can provide, plus, I find it rather relaxing, especially violin."

"Relaxing?" Liara's expression belayed her disbelief at the Commander's words.

"Here," Shepard shifted over to make room for Liara, "Lie down and I'll show you."

Liara looked at the woman doubtfully as she lay down on the bed beside her lover as per her request and gave her a chance to be proven wrong. Shepard gently placed the headphones around the asari's head, leaning up on her arm as she turns the volume down slightly before playing the last audio track she had been listening to. Then she places a hand gently over Liara's eyes, getting her close them and only hear the music. Shepard can see the moment that Liara lets go of her previous hypothesis about the music player and falls into the trance of the music.

Liara can feel the music beat against her ears, but not unpleasantly so as when they have had to business in nightclubs and the sound waves are so strong that she can feel them pound against her body.

_Shepard was right, it's like the music infects your body and calms you… _She sunk into the music, the beauty of the sounds sending a wave of shivers across her skin. It was a whole new experience, no longer was it just sound, but a feeling, a feeling that spread through her and took over, filling her with a state of peace.

Shepard smiled as she watched Liara's reactions to her music, pleased that she was able to sway the asari and make her understand why she liked it. She paused the music and Liara opened her eyes, sitting up and removing the headphones she handed them back to Shepard.

"I see why you like it, it's amazing, it's like the sound is alive and it's so calming, I've not experienced that before with sound."

Shepard was still smiling as the asari became animated with her explanation, "It's how I prepare for war."

"Like the calm before the storm."

"Yes."

Shepard stood up, she was aware that they would be arriving soon, and placed the player in a draw, taking her armour from off the counter and putting it on.

"Oh! Yes, that's what I came here for, to tell you that we are just about to land," Liara stepped forward and helped fix the armour in place.

"I know," The Commander replied gently, fixing her armour into place and then reaching for the asari, kissing her once, "I'm coming back for you," She promised again and took a step back to leave.

Liara hugged her fiercely, "I love you," she whispered.

"I know," Shepard whispered back, kissing her cheek and then placing an object in the asari's hand. She stepped backwards towards the door, "I love you too."

And then she was gone. Shepard left the cabin and her lover in a state of complete peace, calm, level headed and ready to fight. The other's in her crew and squad noticed it too as she walked onto the CIC and briefed them and checked her weapons, attaching them to her armour and signalling her squad.

"Alright everyone, time to go save the galaxy. Again. You all know your jobs, and I know you'll do them well, that's why you're here. There is a lot riding on this mission, not just for each of you personally, but for the rest of existence and life as we know it, try not to think about it too hard."

"There's no place we'd rather be Commander," Kasumi said on behalf of the crew who nodded their confirmation.

A smile touched the corner of the Commander's mouth at the crew whose loyalty she had gained over the weeks, "Then let's go."

In the Captain's Cabin Liara looked down at what the Commander had given her; dog tags. She found it odd at first, she hadn't seen the woman take them off, and, wasn't it regulation that she keep them on if they had to identify her body? These were not the old tags that she had dug up when Shepard first died, these were new ones, still shiny from their lack of use. She read the military inscription with Shepard's basic information, name, birthdate, blood type, rank… Then she turned them over and on the back was a number- her number, engraved at a later point in time into the metal. It made her heart squeeze, anyone who found the tags would be curious enough to call the number and reach her. Like writing down your next of kin on a medical form, but on her military issued identification.

Now the asari was even more perplexed, if she had the Commanders tags, then, what did the Commander have in the way of identification if something went horribly wrong? Her hands shook and she quickly sat back down on the bed before she could fall, her jaw wobbling she clamped a hand over her mouth to keep it still. She didn't want to think about the possibilities of what might go wrong, but her mind wouldn't be so kind as to stop.


	2. Storm

Liara burst into the infirmary when the team of makeshift soldiers had returned and stormed to Shepard's side, "You foolish woman!" She yelled. She had heard the entire missions communications in the CIC, sitting in almost dead silence save for Jokers communications with the Commander, even after the Normandy's surviving crew members returned largely without injury.

"Most people would say I'm a hero," Shepard winced as she pulled off the armour she was wearing- which was not the same armour she had left with, unzipped her Cerberus issue uniform (leaving the N7 shirt she wore underneath) and laid back on the table so Doctor Chakwas could get to her injuries.

"I'm not most people Shepard. What were you thinking! You were going to get yourself killed!"

Shepard held up a finger, "But I didn't," she said smugly, then hissed as the Doctor prodded her sensitive flesh.

"You two can fight over how big an idiot Shepard is at a later time, right now I need to get her bleeding under control," Doctor Chakwas commanded, her eyes never leaving the injuries in the soldier's side as she grabbed bandages and tried to stop the fast flowing blood.

"Hey," The Commander was supposed to sound annoyed, but instead the word barely choked itself out in a splatter of blood.

"Shepard?!" Liara's stance changed instantly, she took the Commander's jaw in her hands and turned the woman's head to her, "Shepard?!" Her eyes unfocused and started to roll back, "NO!" Liara screamed at her, tapping her cheek and unconsciously leaning closer, she tried to form a meld with Shepard.

_Don't you dare die on me a second time! You said you'd come back. You _promised _me._

The silence she received back was frightening.

"Doctor Chakwas what is happening?!" Liara demanded, rationality escaping her.

The Doctor lifted Shepard's left eye lid for a second then resumed pressing down hard on the Commander's ribs, "She's unconscious, uhh," The Doctor looked around the room and the onlooking occupants, "Garrus, press down hard on this but don't break the Commander's ribs any further!" She instructed and then pushed an alarmed Liara out of the way to assess the damage to Shepard's right side, "Jacob, get that bullet out of the Commander's leg!"

"Which one?"

"Godess," Liara exclaimed, her hand shaking slightly where it rested across her lips.

Doctor Chakwas didn't miss a beat, "All of them, start with the one in her right thigh. Tali, attend to these burns on her arms. Miranda, see to the others and send only send me those in a critical condition. Everyone else get out so I can think!" Chakwas was good at her job and she was fine with working under pressure, but that didn't mean she liked to have the whole crew-or what was left of the crew- hovering inside her door and watching.

The crew dispersed as per the doctor's request, but without further instruction, the crew were lost, waiting to hear the fate of their commander, they ignored when Miranda tried to get them moving by sending them back to their individual stations.

Jack, Kasumi and Liara stayed behind however.

"Jacob stop! She's bleeding too much," The doctor ordered and the Cerberus operative put down the tweezers he'd been holding and grabbed a bandage.

"What do you want us to do?" He asked.

"Dammit I just need a moment a think!" The Doctor yelled, the Commander had too many injuries that all required immediate attention but she needed a moment to full assess the situation and which wound to address first. It would also have helped if she knew _how _the Commander had received her injuries.

Liara stepped back up to the table in a haze of rippling blue and before the Doctor could ask what the hell she was doing, the Commander became wrapped in a stasis bubble, "Save. Her." The asari commanded, though the order was hardly necessary, it was in everyone's best interests that the woman live, "If she dies-"

"You don't need to threaten me Doctor T'Soni," Chakwas shot back, moving around the trio to get to a cabinet, "I want the Commander to live just as much as you do," She brought forth a number of packets of medi-gel and placed them on the bed at the Commanders feet.

"I don't think you do," The asari challenged.

Chakwas turned on the alien, "I may not be sleeping with her, but I sure as hell want her to live through this war, not only because she is an asset to the galaxy but because she is my friend. Back. Off."

After yelling at the Asari she turned her attention back to the Commander and noticed that the Stasis had stopped Shepard's bleeding, making it easier for her to apply medi-gel to some her burns, and lacerations when the effects wore off. But there was still a long way to go before the Commander would be out of the woods.

"Leave," Chakwas ordered Liara.

"No."

"Jack," The Doctor tossed one of the medi-gels at the woman for her lesser scrapes and bruises, "Kasumi," she threw one to the thief as well, "Make her leave."

"I'm not leaving!" Liara argued.

"I can't work with you hovering around! Leave!" Chakwas ordered, returning her focus to the Commander's broken ribs on her right side, "What the hell happened out there…"

"A particle beam tore through her armour," Jack recounted for the doctor as she and Kasumi bodily dragged Liara away from the infirmary.

"She's bloody lucky we got to her when we did, but despite everything she still saved us all," Miranda added, the group standing by the door.

"Still wish the Commander hadn't saved you," Jack taunted, letting a struggling Liara free now that they were out of the infirmary.

"How come you two got away so easily?" Liara asked to the pair that had pulled her away, Kasumi's injuries all gone save for the marks left behind on her clothes, Jack's in healing as she applied the medi-gel.

"They knew we were coming and they targeted Shepard exclusively," Jack replied.

"Kasumi and Samara were with her, when we joined Shepard in the final battle against the reaper human…" Miranda paused shaking her head.

"Shepard wasn't wearing armour," Grunt filled in, although it wasn't where Miranda's sentence was heading.

"WHAT?!" Liara yelled, despite having heard the entire mission from the CIC, it was clear that there were pertinent details still missing.

Mordin spoke up immediately, rationalising the situation, "Shepard's armour was broken. Useless. Would have gotten in the way of movement."

"Then whose armour was she wearing when she came in?"

"Mine," Kasumi spoke, "I didn't really need it."

"How did her armour break? Is that why she wasn't regenerating and her injuries are so severe?"

"They kept overloading Shepard's armour until her shields wouldn't come up again, without her armours power she was unable to automatically deploy medi-gel or regenerate. They didn't stop there though, they kept going until the circuits in her suit blew up, the overload electrocuting the Commander… But she still drew the Collectors fire and even used one of their weapons against them."

"If she'd just stayed down and trusted us to handle it-" Tali started.

"She did trust us, she drew their fire to give us a clear and free shot at those bastards." Miranda cut in.

"Shepard protected us," Grunt added.

"She trusted us to kill them all before _they_ killed her," Miranda responded.

Liara would have cried if she'd been somewhere more private; _That's the Commander I know, always putting her crew first despite the repetitive warnings that we need her more than the crew. The woman is loyal to a fault, but it's part of what makes her the Commander, _"Okay okay, so Shepard's armour was destroyed and she fought a large portion of the battle _without it_, Kasumi, you gave Shepard your armour and then she stood in the line of fire, killing as many Collectors as she could and distracting them while you…" She pointed to Kasumi and Samara, "also fought them largely unhindered and waited for everyone else to catch up and join in the fight?"

Jack jumped in as the other's nodded to Liara's summary, "Yeah and even with all of us there to back her up Shepard still jumped into battle the human reaper without a second thought."

"She really oughtn't have done that," Miranda felt a need to emphasise what she saw as reckless endangerment in the Commander's actions by highlighting the situation that had faced them at the time, "For a while there Shepard could barely remain standing with the number of high velocity projectiles her armour was taking."

_Goddess. _Liara sat down on an empty crate that was fortunately nearby while conflicting senses of pride and fear formed in her chest as she was filled in on the details from the crews' point of view.

"Had Shepard not been a distraction we would have likely been killed. Our armour is not as sophisticated. Can't take as much damage. Jack has no armour. Miranda Neither. Grunt regenerates fast, might have lived. Kasumi-"

"Can it Salarian!" Jack interrupted, "None of that matters now…" Jack pushed through the group and started towards the elevator.

"Unfortunately Jack is right," Miranda turned, standing on a chair to address the crew, "Today was only the beginning, today we took the fight to the Collectors and Repears and we won a small battle. But now we've started a war. The Reapers will want revenge and the galaxy won't want to believe us when we tell them that. The galaxy needs Commander Shepard now as much as ever but assuming she makes it through the night, she's going to be out of action for a while and the galaxy is going to spin into chaos. We will have to pick up the slack in the meantime to keep the galaxy calm, it won't be easy, the Commander leaves a tough role to fill but if we stay together and _work_ together, we can make it seem like everything is alright with the Commander. That's what the galaxy really needs to hear."

"You mean, pretend like the Commander is still calling the shots?" One of the crew accused, making it sound like Miranda wanted to take over the Commander's role.

"Shepard will still be running the show, but we'll be doing all the ground work for her. The galaxy needs to believe that the Commander is fit for duty and out saving all of existence. That isn't possible right now but we can still provide them everyone with hope this way," Miranda elaborated.

Looking out at the crew below her she saw a sea of heads nodding in agreement, showing their support, ready to step in as a group and fill in the Commander's shoes in her absence.

"For Shepard!" Kelly Chambers yelled, raising her fist in the air.

"For Shepard!" Everyone chorused, repeating the action.

"Shepard…" Liara whispered, her eyes staring holes in the door between her and her bondmate.


	3. Reflect

"It's been three days and she hasn't complained about being cooped up in there," Liara stated as she sat down at the mess table next to Doctor Chakwas.

Everyone knew that the Commander hated being out of the action, bargaining with the Doctor the second she was conscious or simply leaving of her own free will against Chakwas' advice.

"Liara she's been barely been conscious at all."

"Why is the medi-gel not working? She should be healed and up and about bossing everyone around," Liara knew her words were slightly harsh, she preferred to say that the Commander 'led' rather than bossed, but her anger was all that kept her from falling apart at the severity of the situations reality.

"The medi-gel is working T'Soni but in case you didn't notice the woman is missing quite a chunk out of her side and I don't about you Asari, but humans don't just grow back ribs and a few vital organs overnight."

"You're exaggerating."

"Barely."

The two stared at each other until Doctor Chakwas spoke again, elaborating on her previous statements, "The particle beam that shredded Shepard's armour broke two of her ribs in several places, decimated her liver where it made contact and perforated her right lung which is why she started choking on her own blood," The Doctor could see Liara's muscles tightening as she explained, "And that's just what the particle beam did to her."

"There's more?" Liara's head fell into her hands.

"That's the worst of it," Chakwas added quickly to alleviate any extra panic, "She did manage to catch quite a number of bullets too. Her armour did take the brunt of it but some of them still made it through her skin, though not far enough to be of… vital importance."

"But Shepard's going to be okay?"

Chakwas hesitated, "We've been given orders to take her to Earth."

Behind Chakwas a gasp caught their attention. The two turned and found Kelly standing in the kitchen with a steaming mug in her hands, "Earth? We're going to Earth?"

Liara looked back at Chakwas, "I do not understand, why is this significant other than it being your home planet?"

Kelly moved towards the two to join the conversation properly, "There's only one reason why they send soldiers home."

Liara was still perplexed, "Shepard is not Earth born, she was born on a ship and has told me a few times that she has no specific location that she identifies as 'home'… Except for maybe the Normandy."

Kelly and the Doctor looked at each other for a moment and then Chakwas stepped up to fill Liara in on the Alliance's protocols, she began speaking a gentler tone than before, "When a soldier is… facing their mortality, they are relieved of duty, discharged, and sent home. Shepard's mother is currently on Earth."

Liara didn't respond immediately, it took a moment for Chakwas' choice words to sink in with her, "You're saying Shepard is dying?"

"I am saying that the Alliance does not foresee the Commander coming back from this one and they want to have her body at home base for burial depending on Captain Shepard's requests."

"Captain Shepard…? Oh, her mother. Right," Liara was shaking, she didn't realise it until Kelly pushed the warm mug in between her hands.

"You don't have to drink it, but holding it will help, just focus on its warmth," She moved to Liara's side, crouching down and instinctually moving into her role as a 'support officer' as she was unofficially dubbed by the crew when they found out about her credentials as a psychologist. It was not so bad, there were worse titles that previous crews had come up with. But her credentials aside, she genuinely wanted to help the Asari in distress, or anyone else in the crew, especially after the traumatic experience they had all been through. _I must talk to Miranda about her betrayal of Cerberus and her plans for the future at some point. _She noted to herself.

"How did she even walk?" Liara asked quietly, staring into the depths of the warm brown liquid in the mug.

"Pardon?" Kelly asked.

"Shepard, if Shepard's injuries are as severe as you say they are, how did no one notice and how was she walking at the end of it all?"

Chakwas answered for Kelly, "Adrenaline. Adrenaline does some crazy things to humans, there are stories of people lifting cars or walking on shattered legs or not even feeling vital injuries because of it. I suspect though that the Commander wouldn't have lasted much longer on adrenalin alone if she hadn't made it back to the Normandy."

Liara nodded, merely an indication that she had heard the Doctor speak, "Adrenaline… You think because of this hormone Shepard was able to keep going? Keep fighting even though her body was breaking apart…" The devastation of Shepard's injuries was sinking in.

"Truthfully," Kelly spoke up, "I don't think the Commander cared for her wellbeing at all, I think she was focused on saving the rest of the galaxy and believed the price to pay for achieving that was her own life. I don't think that the Commander believed she would come out of the other side-"

"No," Liara cut in, shaking her head and pushing the mug away, "No. I was with Shepard before she went groundside, she was so calm despite everything, so grounded, she… she wanted to come back."

"Then that's why she fought so hard, pushing the boundaries of her physical limits so she could make it back to you."

Liara paused, realising how Kelly had set the conversation up for her be receptive of her final assessment of Shepard's mental state.

The crew had all been thinking about the attack on the Collectors, no one could prevent themselves from thinking about it for very long no matter how hard they tried. The day kept repeating over and over in their heads, pondering different scenarios, wondering if they could have saved more or would they have lost the entire crew if things had gone differently.

Being the only medical adviser on the ship, Doctor Chakwas had spent a long time thinking about her actions and the consequences they had for the Commander, she questioned if she had done everything correctly or if there was more that she could do, "Liara, you asked how Shepard was able to keep going? Aside from adrenalin, I would also like to add that Shepard's armour acted as a compress to her wounds and when she took it off, she effectively took reopened her wounds. A necessary evil for her to get treatment but a risky decision I wouldn't have let her take had there been time to find another solution."

Liara nodded, "What happens if Shepard lives?"

Kelly and Chakwas looked at each other a moment but it was the latter who spoke, quietly as the serious nature of what she was about to say dawned over her, "She'd be taken into Alliance custody, imprisoned until she can be tried and court-martialled for treason and most likely, discharged from the military."

Liara frowned, "The Alliance would fire her for saving the galaxy? I do not understand."

"The way the Alliance sees it, Shepard betrayed them by working with Cerberus. To them it doesn't matter that she was working towards the greater good, only that she disobeyed orders and worked with their sworn enemy."

"Wait, Shepard is a Spectre though?"

"Who knows what the council will have to say about Shepard's actions, she saved the galaxy again but they weren't too thrilled about her working with Cerberus either. They might revoke her Spectre status."

"They'd do that?! After everything Shepard has done for them? For the galaxy?"

"We've all seen how the council has reacted to the Commander, they didn't believe her until Sovereign was right on top of them."

Having heard most of the conversation, Tali stepped forward, "Shepard's not alone though, we'll fight for her if they try anything."

"Yeah, we could have been at Earth yesterday but Joker's been stalling them, saying we needed to make emergency repairs or gather supplies before going to Earth… We can't keep that up for long though," Chakwas added.

There wasn't a whole lot to do on the ship, there were repairs to be done however all the major issues had been resolved and no one could focus on the minor details long enough to get much done. While it wasn't shore leave, the crew was grateful for the break, for a chance to sleep, breathe, talk to each other and really reflect on the trauma they'd been through together and come to terms with it all.

Liara handed the mug back to Kelly, "I want to see Shepard."

"Liara-"

"I know we've been through this before, but I need to see that she's going to be okay," Liara started out strong, but the further into her sentence she got, the lower her voice got, almost breaking at the end of it as her emotions threatened to overwhelm her. Her dependence on Shepard's wellbeing was made abundantly clear in that moment.

Chakwas thought about it for a moment before responding carefully, "Okay… I'll let you know when she's next conscious," The doctor then got up, taking her mug of coffee from the table and heading back to the infirmary.


	4. Repair

Liara stormed into the med bay when Doctor Chakwas finally let her in, "You're supposed to have these, why would you give them to me?!" Liara thrust the dog tags at Shepard, clearly still quite upset.

"Okay first off, I wanted you to have them if I died," Shepard started counting on her fingers, her arm barely lifting off the bed as her eyes flicked to the side for a moment in thought, "Again," they flicked back to Liara, "Secondly, had I died out there I highly doubt anyone would have ever found our bodies to identify and third, it's supposed to be a symbol that I was coming back to you."

"This is one of those human things isn't it?"

"Yes," Shepard affirmed, relaxing her unconsciously tight muscles and shifting her head on the pillow. Ideally she wanted to sit up, but getting upright caused too much pain so she'd resigned herself to being in the reclined position, staring up at the lights if she managed to wake herself up.

"I still don't really understand."

"Liara…" The tiredness in Shepard's voice could not be contained, "If I die all my possessions on board the Normandy, which is everything I own, go to my mother, my next of kin, as per Alliance military protocol. By giving you my tags before I left, it ensured that you'd have something of mine if you wanted it," She paused for a moment as another thought struck her, "You should already know this from the last time I died," Then another thought clicked into place, "But then again the Normandy was destroyed so there wouldn't have been anything left… Oh god," Shepard's voice dropped to a whisper, "my poor mother…"

"Why am I not a 'next of kin'?" That was the only question burning in Liara's mind as Shepard's mind wandered away from their conversation.

"Haven't gotten around to adding you between being dead, fighting collectors, saving an ungrateful galaxy and trying to determine if you'd want me back or not."

"Being the Shadow Broker I'd have gotten everything I wanted of yours had you died," Liara reminded.

"You'd have left my mother with nothing of her daughter's life?" Shepard teased.

"Oh no, I'd only have taken your space hamster and maybe the fish."

"Aha, I knew you liked Max," Shepard struggled to keep her eyes open and she patted the spot beside her, "Join me…" She was too out of it to realise that the space was too small for Liara fit, and too tired to move far enough to allow the asari space.

"Shepard," Liara tipped the womans' head back towards her, firmly holding her jaw to keep her head in place, "Chakwas said we're supposed to return to Earth."

Shepard forced herself to stay awake, blinking her eyes a few times and looking directly into the lights above her in an attempt to make herself more alert, "I'm not dead yet," She forced out, fighting to keep her eyes on Liara, "I'm not going to die, not today…So they'll have to settle for firing me if they really want to get rid of me so quickly."

Liara was glad to see the same old fight that the Commander had was still shining brightly, "The crew will fight for you, they are fighting for you. Joker is delaying our arrival and the crew are prepared to do everything they can to support you. Just tell them what to do and they'll do it."

Shepard gave a small smile, "A court martial is a problem for another day, they can't really put me on a stand when I can barely stay conscious for more than a few minutes, so we have some time on our hands. It's good to know that I'll have allies when I need them."

"Of course Shepard, you fought for them and saved the crews lives so naturally they want to do everything they can to support you. What do you want them to do?"

"The crew… the crew… uh… I don't know Liara, I don't know," It seemed like it was getting harder to reopen her eyes after every blink, the lids managing to stay closed for longer and not opening as far, "The Alliance can get stuffed."

Liara watched as Shepard succumbed to sleep, leaning down she kissed the Commanders' forehead, resting there for a moment as the Commander unwillingly fell asleep. She straightened and watched the woman for a brief few seconds before turning away and heading for the door, "I'll take care of it…" She mumbled to herself.

"Liara."

She turned back to the Commander and returned to her side, "Yes?"

"I have half the galaxy at my back, I don't think that they'll let this be the end of 'Commander' Shepard…" Liara watched as Shepard took her hand, entwining their fingers but didn't have a response, "What's wrong?"

"How can you be so calm about this? You almost died again and your future is very uncertain at this point."

Shepard took a long and slow breath, really feeling as her lungs filled with air and her chest rose to accommodate the expansion, "Liara-"

"And then there's the Alliance issue, half the galaxy can't show up to your court martial saying 'we need you', that's not going to change anything."

"Liara-"

"And what happens if the council revoke your Spectre status as well? Then what will you do? What will we do?" Shepard didn't even bother trying to speak a third time, "The military has been your life, I can't imagine you'd leave it so soon. Actually come to think of it, what would you do if you left the Alliance and the Spectres?"

Shepard waited until Liara looked back at her before she began to address her comments, "Liara, the Alliance can try me for treason if they want to but I have a solid case of defense; I'm saving the galaxy, and with half the galaxy at my back how can I go wrong?"

"From what Kelly and Doctor Chakwas were saying, the Alliance doesn't seem like it will be lenient in matters of treason."

"What will happen, will happen…Liara, do you know what N7 means?"

"Alliance military?"

"Yeeees, but N7 is only one unit of the Alliance-"

"Which unit?" Liara questioned, she hadn't really looked too far into the Alliance and it's structure previously, but now she was intrigued to learn more about the organisation.

"The 'N' means special forces and the '7' refers to my grade of training when I graduated from the Interplanetary Combatives Training. Ok?" Shepard could see Liara thinking about her words, most likely cataloging them to look up and research later, "I am Commander Shepard, special forces Alliance Military, Spectre, peace broker… I think I can convince some old admirals that my actions were for the good of the galaxy. They appointed me a leader, the council appointed me to uphold the galaxy and peace and that's what I've done. They don't have much of a choice, I'm not leaving the Alliance. Don't worry about them… They're a problem for another day," The tiredness crept back in again, her body lacking the energy to keep unnecessary functions running, like staying awake, and she forgot what she was going to say next.

"Shepard?" Liara whispered, not wanting to keep the woman awake when she was so clearly was fighting sleep.

"Mm?"

"What happens to us now?"

"We win the war I started…" The Commander couldn't keep her eyes open any longer and resigned herself to unconsciousness, starting to settle back into the ease of rest. Liara let go of her hand, gently laying it on the bed and walking back towards the door and waiting as it whooshed open, "and then have all those little blue children… And Liara?" Shepard's head tipped to the side, eyes closed, "Get me out of the infirmary…"

Liara just gave a soft smile, oh yes, the Commander would be just fine indeed.


End file.
